My Slim Fast & Curried Rice Odyssey: 1/10/11

The past 3 1/2 months of dieting have sucked the Big Suck since Day One.  I've not only had zero success, but I'm actually 5.5 pounds heavier today than I was on September 20th, which was the day I started the diet, as well as this blog.  Needless to say, I'm a tad irate.  

So today I made the slightly faddish decision to go "old school" and do what has worked for me in the long past.  Back in 1998, I was carting around about 40 post-pregnancy pounds, and was working weird hours for the Postal Service (eek) and couldn't join a gym.  I had no time in my life to exercise or even a tiny desire to do it, so I decided to try Slim Fast.  In a nutshell... it worked.  I lost over 40 pounds in less than four months, and kept it off for over ten years - until I got pregnant for the second time, that is.

Which brings me to the eerily-familiar present.  Here I am again, with a two-year-old and about 40 pounds to lose in order for my pre-pregnancy clothes to fit me again.  Today, I started back on Slim Fast.  I feel a strange sense of relief to know that I've eliminated so many food choices and decisions from the process.  There are countless dieters out there who would/could argue that Slim Fast isn't "real food;" that's it's "so much healthier to just count every calorie and eat nothing but organic fruits & veggies, lean meats, fat-free dairy, and such."  They'd be correct.  That would be healthier.

Sadly, I'm beyond worrying about that particular "detail."  Health is absolutely important.  Slim Fast shakes contain 25 grams of carbs (THE DEVIL) and they've even added "nutritive and non-nutritive sweeteners" in the past 10 years that give it a very faint after-taste that I don't love (THE HORROR!).  I'm not thrilled about either of those things.

 But...

The "Slim Fast Plan" DOES take off the pounds, and it works FAST.  The modern, 2011 formula contains an appetite suppressant (YIPPEE!) that somehow kills my hunger pangs dead for hours.  I have yet to find ANYTHING that achieves this with so little effort on my part.

The bottom line is, I don't have time for anything else right now.  I don't have time to re-join a gym, because I'm too busy working and chasing a two-year-old and running a household and trying to avoid catching every winter sickness out there.  I am juggling several full-time jobs here, and lets face it:  Dieting is ALSO a FULL-TIME JOB.  It requires constant thought, constant planning, constant attention, and I figure if I don't have time to haul my butt into the shower at least once a week, then what right do I have spending so much valuable time working on a diet that isn't working for me AT ALL?!

It made no sense to me.  So, I've handed the reigns to Slim Fast, and we'll see how it pans out.  The deal is the same as it has always been; you drink your two Slim Fast shakes, you eat three 100-calorie snacks of fruits or veggies, and then you eat your "sensible" 500-calorie dinner.  You think you'd be starving for lack of calories or variety, but I stuck to this today and I wasn't - not even a little bit.  I felt weirdly-full all day.  That was a welcome change from the way I've felt since last September 20th, which has basically felt like I've been starving myself to death.  Even on days when I consumed next to no carbs, I had a hunger response that was in over-drive.  It's simply not fair.  I must be abnormal.

So I am encouraged by my new Day One, and I hope it continues.  I have no ridiculous expectations.  I know some days are going to be tough, and others will downright suck.  That's dieting for you, right?  But at the very least, I feel better knowing that it'll be harder for me to mess this up, with my little silver can accounting for nearly half of what passes my lips every day.  I figure it gives me at least a 50% better chance of succeeding at dropping my 40 pounds.

On a final note, my 500-calorie dinners are going to be calorie-controlled as well.  I'm not willing to leave any more of my weight-loss journey up to chance.  I already tried the, "I can count every calorie and prepare healthy and exciting meals and still lose weight" bit.  I failed miserably.  Now, I simply want the pounds GONE FROM MY BODY.  So two Slim Fast shakes a day it is, maybe a banana or an apple, maybe a cup of herbal tea, maybe some raw carrots or cauliflower.  Yum.   For dinner, I'm going 100% Indian.  I have a freezer & cupboard stocked and ready.  All Indian meals, which are currently my favorite food OF ALL TIME.  I don't worry about boredom, at least not yet, because I have been addicted to this food and these flavors since 1996.  Tonight, it was one of these "Kohinoor"-brand meals, though something called "Kashmiri Rajma with Steamed Basmati Rice."

I found these on the shelf at Super One:

But my all-time favorite, found in the freezer section, is:

HAPPY DIETING, PEOPLE!!!